UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT   LOS  ANGELES 


CT 

STATEMENT  OF  FACTS 


MR.   BENJAMIN  JOY, 


EXECUTOR  OF  THE  LAST  WIU,  AND  TESTAMENT 


•  f  TBZ  tATE 


JOSEPHjBARRELL,  ESQ. 

V* 


AUGUST,  1816, 


IT  will  perhaps  be  matter  of  surprise  to  Mr. 
,  on  perusing  the  following  pages,  to  perceive  that 
we  have  not  rigidly  adhered  to  our  late  determination, 
of  publishing  verbatim  the  letter  we  transmitted  to 
him  at  Washington.  He  will,  if  he  pleases,  avail 
himself  of  the  permission  we  now  freely  give  him,  t» 
communicate  to  his  friends  such  parts  of  that  letter  as 
we  have  declined  publishing.  He  will  find  that  no 
charge  against  himself  is  omitted.  If  we  have  thought 
proper  to  conceal  from  the  publick  view  the  faults  of 
another,  we  conceive  it  requires  no  apology.  We  ex- 
pect, however,  that  Mr.  JOY  will  not  take  advantage 
of  our  leniency,  by  endeavours  to  prop  his  declining 
character  upon  one,  which  perhaps  might  be  destroyed 
with  equal  facility  as  his  own. 


STATEMENT. 


'•  Sure  if  there  be  •  wretch, 

'On  whom  High  Heaven  will  sh-d  its  <le«peit  curse, 
T»  he,  regardless  of  the  widow's  woe, 
The  orphan's  tear !" 

DISSENTIONS  among  members  of  the  same  family, 
>re  seldom  attended  by  circumstances,  which  authorize  an  ap- 
peal to  the  publick  opinion.  But  in  the  present  instance,  so 
many  and  so  aggravated  are  the  injuries  we  have  sustained  from, 
the  base  conduct  of  one,  who  has  uniformly  professed  himself  our 
Iriend,  that  we  think  ourselves  fully  justified  in  presenting  to  the 
publick  consideration  a  brief  statement  of  the  grounds  of  our 
.quarrel,  and  the  causes  that  have  produced  it.  That  statement 
.carries  with  ft  our  apology  for  its  publication. 

In  consequence  of  the  unfortunate  speculation  in  the  Georgia 
Lands,  and  other  losses  of  considerable  magnitude,  the  affairs  of 
our  father,  the  late  JOSEPH  BARRELL,  Esq.  of  Charlestown,  had 
become  considerably  involved  some  years  previous  to  his  death. 
He  died  in  October,  1804.  Sosne  of  us  were  at  that  time  mere 
children,  and  all  too  young  and  too  unpractised  in  business,  to 
take  any  active  part  in  the  settlement  of  the  estate.  Mr.  BEN- 
.JAM.IN  Joy,,  a  gentleman  of  large  fortune,  and  connected  with  our 
father's  family  by  his  marriage  with  our  sister,  was  appointed,  in 
conjunction  with  the  two  eldest  of  our  number,  the  executor  of 
our  father's  wilj.  Upon  this  gentleman  devolved  the  sole  man- 
agement  of  the  estate.  We  were  not  aware,  until  recently  in- 
formed  by  Mr.  Joy,  of  the  particular  circumstances  that  had  in- 
volved  the  estate  of  our  father  prior  to  his  decease.  He  remark- 
ed  to  us  at  that  time  generally,  that  the  property  was  much  in- 
cumbered,  and  that  unless  something  should  be  eventually  realiz- 
ed from  the  Georgia  Speculation,  his  claims  upon  the  estate  for 
money  advanced  our  father,  and  for  which  he  had  satisfactory 
vouchers,  would  absorb  the  whole  property.  But,  he  added  if 
the  Georgia  Lands  come  to  any  thing,  there  will  probably,  be 
something  considerable  left  for  you.  These  remarks  have  not 
been  forgotten.  They  are  distinctly  recollected  by  us  all.  With 
that  ingenuous  confidence  so  natural  to  man  in  the  early  period 


4035O4 


•f  life,  we  relied  upon  the  information  we  had  received  from  Mr. 
Joy  ;  believing;  it  impossible  he  could  abuse  the  important  trust 
with  which  he  was  invested,  and  appropriate  to  his  own  use  any 
part  of  a  property,  which  in  equity  belonged  to  the  fatherless  and 
the  widow.  Our  father's  property  was  not  pledged  to  Mr.  Joy. 
It  was  conveyed  to  him  prior  to  his  decease  absolutely.  But  its 
estimated  value  at  that  period  exceeded  the  debt  in  discharge  of 
which  it  was  surrendered.  That  we  have  no  legal  claim  there- 
fore, for  any  part  of  the  estate  is  too  obvious  to  require  illustra- 
tion. But  upon  every  principle  of  integrity  and  honour,  Mr.  Joj 
wan  bound  to  manage  the  property  he  had  received  from  his  de- 
ceased friend,  in  such  manner  as  should  be  thought  most  advan- 
tageous for  the  interest  of  a  young  and  helpless  family,  deprived 
of  their  natural  protector,  and  committed  to  his  charge.  This 
he  solemnly  promised  he  would  do.  Several  years  elapsed  with- 
out affording  any  prospect  that  the  estate  would  ever  realize  a 
dollar  from  the  Georgia  Speculation.  During  this  period  we  for- 
bore, from  motives  of  delicacy,  to  make  any  enquiries  respecting 
the  tituation  of  affairs,  and  Mr.  Joy  did  not  think  proper  to  com- 
municate to  us  any  thing  upon  the  subject.  Attempts  however  at 
almost  every  session  of  Congress,  were  made  to  compromise  with 
the  United  Slates  the  claims  of  the  Georgia  purchasers.  The 
possibility  that  the  claimants  might  eventually  effect  a  compro-'- 
misp.'was  occasionally  the  subject  of  conversation  between  Mr. 
Joy  and  ourselves.  He  never  gave  us  much  encouragement  that 
Huo!i  compromise  would  he  effected,  but  uniformly  assured  us, 
that  if  it  was,  ice  should  realize  something  from  the  estate  of  our 
fafhrr.  I  wish,  say*  he.  to  receive  only  the  money  I  have  ex- 
peeled,  with  simple  interest.  I  shall  never  get  that.*  I  wiR 
make  a  sacrifice  of  Jifty  thousand  dollars,  if  you  can  find  any 
frie  ud*  to  come  forward  and  pay  me  the  balance  due  from  the  es- 
tate, and  I  will  surrender  to  you  all  the  property  I  ever  received 
frimi  your  father.  These  remarks  we  thought  indicated  a  gener- 
bus  disposition  and  were  so  often  repeated  and  so  uniformly  ac- 
companied by  assurances  of  his  friendship  and  regard,  that  we 
never  doubted  that  in  the  event  of  the  settlement  of  the  Georgia 
claim,  he  would  settle  the  estate  upon  terms  the  most  liberal. 

At  the  several  sessions  of  Congress  in  the  years  1813,  1814, 
1815,  Mr.  Joy  was  employed  at  Washington,  as,  the  agent 
of  the  N.  E.  M.  L.  Company.  During  the  last  eighteen  months 
lie  was  engaged  in  this  business,  his  promises  were  not  so  liberal, 
as  when  there  was  no  prospect  that  his  agency  would  prove  suc- 
cessful. We  then,  however,  received  from  him  assurances,  that 

'•    •  It  i-  proper  10  remurk  here,  tlmt  AT  THAT  TIME  there  was  no  prospect  that 
*ny  thing  would  be  ever  retlixed  from  the  Georgia  purchase. 


6 

there  might  be  something  "handsome"  left  for  us,  after  he  was 
/?/"•'  repaid  both  the  principal  and  interest  of  the  several  sums  ht 
had  advanced  on  account  of  the  estate.    During  the  session  of  Con- 
gr«ss  in  1814,  the  compromise  was  finally  effected,  ;ind  Mr.  Joy 
has  since  received,  or  is  entitled  to  receive  more  than  one  hint          J 
dred  and  sixty  thousand  d  liars  in  Mississippi  Stock,  on  account     f 
of  our  father  s  interest  in  the  Georgia  Speculation  ;  and  this  ex- 
elusive  of  that  proportion  claimed    liy  Jones,  Jeffrey  and  Ilu&sall, 
referred  to  in  our  letter  to  Mr.  Joy  at  Washington. 

A  few  weeks  prior  to  his  departure  for  Washington  in  Decem- 
ber last.  .  s  it  was  then  certain  that  a  considerable  property  would 
be  realized  from  the  Georgia  purchase,  we  enquired  in  the  most 
respectful  manner  of  Mr.  Joy  what  amount  would  probably  be 
left  for  us  after  the  settlement  of  the  estate  ;  when  we  were  in- 
formed, that  we  had  nothing  to  expect,  as  the  value  of  the  whole 
property,  including  what  he  should  receive  from  the  Georgia  / 
claim  (under  the  compromise  with  the  United  States)  would  not 
by  some  thousands  repav  him  the  amount  he  had  advanced  for 
the  estate.  Surprised  at  this  extraordinary  remark,  so  inconsist- 
ent with  former  declarations,  we  requested  from  him  a  statement 
of  his  claim,  which  he  had  before  promised  us,  and  which  he  then 
said  he  would,  as  soon  as  practicable,  prepare  and  deliver  us. 
We  waited  week  after  week  in  the  hope  of  receiving  this  state- 
ment, which  he  assured  us  would  prove,  to  our  satisfaction,  that 
we  had  no  equitable  claims  to  any  part  of  the  property.  We 
were  before  sensible,  that  the  confidence  so  injudiciously  reposed 
in  him  by  our  father,  had  placed  him  beyond  the  reach  of  laic. 
On  the  first  day  of  December  last,  one  of  our  number,  who  at  that 
time  intended  in  the  course  of  a  few  weeks  to  leave  Boston  fora 
distant  part  of  the  United  States,  addressed  to  Mr.  Joy  the  letter, 
first  published  in  the  Appendix.  To  this  letter  Mr.  Joy  replied; 
verbally,  that  '*  he  had  no  time  to  answer  letters.'1  He.  however, 
pledged  his  word  to  another  of  our  number,  to  whom  he  made  tiie 
reply,  that  before  he  left  Boston  he  would  certainly  deliver  to  us 
astateaient  of  his  claims  upon  "the  estate  of  our  father,  and  ex- 
plain the  same  to  our  satisfaction.  Notwithstanding  this  solemn 
engagement,  on  the  following  Sunday  he  placed  a  statement  of 
his  claims  in  the  hands  of  GIDEON  SNOW,  Esq.  which  he  remark- 
ed to  that  gentletnan  was  imperfect  and  unfinished,  authorizing 
him  to  permit  us  to  e,vamine\t,  but  expressly  prohibiting  his  de- 
livering it  to  us,  or  suffering  us  to  take  a  copy,  and  immediately 
left  Boston  for  Washington.* 

*  Thi»  statement  commenced  with  «  ronn<!  charge  of  §  5!-,930  due  Mr  Joy 
fi-orn  the  enate,  on  the  first  <l«y  of  January,  1800,  without  sixiiiig  i'>  what  n>ai>- 
Der  it  accrued.  Upon  this  sum  from  that  jteriuil  to  the  first  0»y  of  January  Uit, 


Indignant  at  the  imposition  practiced  upon  us,  suspicious  ojf 
tn's  intentions  to  defraud  us,  and  having  lost  entirely  the  confiL- 
tlence  we  had  previously  placed  in  him.  we  at  first  resolved  to 
publish  immediately  a  statement  of  the  injuries  we  had  sustained. 
But  on  reflection,  aware  that  he  might  complain  that  we  had  tak- 
en advantage  of  his  absence  and  preferred  charges  against  him 
at  the  puhtick  tribunal,  which  at  a  distance  from -home  he  had  ne 
opportunity  to  refute,  we  determined  upon  addressing;  to  him  a 
letter  at  Washington,  detailing;  our  causes  of  complaint  and  re- 
quiring from  him  \  PROMISE  TO  SUBMIT  ALL  MATTERS 
IN  DISPUTE  BKTWERN  US  TO  THE  DECISION  OF  HON- 
EST AND  DISINTERESTED  MEN.  That  letter  which  is  the 
second  published  in  the  appendix,  prior  to  its  being  forwarded 
was  presented  to  Mrs.  Joy  for  her  perusal.  At  her  solicitation 
and  at  the  request  of  Mr.  Snow,  we  concluded  not  to  forward, 
our  letter  to  Washington,  until  Mrs.  Joy  should  receive  an  an- 
swer to  a  letter  which  she  engaged  immediately  to  write  to  Mr. 
Joy  on  the  subject.  The  reply  was  such  as  we  anticipated.  It 
contained  a  direct  refusal  to  comply  with  our  reasonable  propo~ 
sition.  Our  letter  to  Mr.  Joy  will  explain  why  we  did  not  im- 
mediately pursue  the  course  we  had  resolved  upon.  The  letters 
•also  which  afterwards  passed  between  Mr.  Joy  and  our  sister 
{which  perhaps  he  will  not  think  proper  to  expose)  and  his  let- 
ters to  Mr.  Snow  upon  the  subject  of  our  controversy,  form  addi- 
tional reasons  for '-the  delay  which  has  since  attended  our  pro- 
ceedings. Since  Mr.  Joy's  return  from  Washington  in  May  last, 
other  letters  have  been  addressed  to  him  ;  which  with  his  answers 
are  also  published  in  the  appendix,  in  the  order  they  were  writ- 
ten and  received. 

It  would  be  vain  to  attempt  to  satisfy  our  friends  by  legal  proof, 
that  Mr.  Joy  refuses  to  surrender  a  property  which  of  right  be- 
longs to  us.  All  the  papers  relative  to  the  estate  are  in  his  pos- 
session. We  rely  principally  upon  his  oirn  verbal  declarations 
at  different  periods  since  the  death  of  our  lather,  and  the  statement 
which  was  a  few  tnonths  since  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Snow,  which 
we  have  seen,  to  prove  that  he  possesses  property  which  does  not 
belong  to  him.  We  can  shew  however  to  the  satisfaction  of  any 
reasonable  mind,  that  vf  the  whole  property  had  been  sold  in  the 
year  1806  (exclusive  of  the  Georgia  property  which  at  that  time 
•was  not  worth  any  thing,)  that  the  balance  due  Mr.  Joy  on  the 

•and  apon  other  s"»ns  all*  ged  i"  have  been  advanced  on  acc«tirt  'I  (he  t8t<tte,  in  (he 
per  o.l  ilint  ini-.i-viMiiri,  Mr.  Jor  t'ti!  charged  ihr  estate  »iili  HANK  IN  I  EKEST 
<;OM  I'OUND'f'I)  cneli  su^cenli"g  ye-*r;  n  moi'.t  ^TaeMOmlating  a  claim,  n</t  on- 
4jr  i"  di't'Ct  oj>pos  lion  to  cvt-ry  jiri-'Cip't  of  equity  ami  justice,  h»'t  grossly  usurious 
»«d  >ik-£  .1  sui]  (Ins,  100.  alte  i  ejected  (.ronuses  to  adjuti  his  claims  upon  tt»e  e*- 
»le  u[>o;i  tei  me  bulb  l;Jvi«!  and  friendly. 


ifst  clay  of  January  last  unth  accumulating  interest,  would  have* 
Mfcen  but  forty  thousand  dollars  ;  and  that  nearlv  eighty  thousand 
dollars  would  now  he  in  possession  of  Mr.  Joy  bovond  Hie  amount 
of  his  demand.*  We  can  prove  to  the  satisfaction  of  disinter- 
ested men,  that  the  estate  in  the  hands  of  one  influenced  by  hu- 
mane and  honourable  motives,  nay,  one  disposed  to  act  honestly, 
but  not  to  exceed  the  bounds  of  strict  justice,  would  have  been 
so  disposed  of,  that  an  ample  fortune  would  now  remain  to  the 
widow  and  children  of  our  deceased  parent. 

Let  it  not  be  alleged  that  these  charges  are  of  a  nature  too 
vague  and  indefinite  to  be  entitled  to  the  publick  credit.  Let  it 
be  recollected  that  we  have  been  unwearied  in  our  exertions  to 
adjust  our  concerns  with  Mr.  Joy  on  friendly  terms  ;  that  we 
have  suffered  months  to  pass  (regardless  of  the  lapse  of  time  so 
valuable  at  our  period  of  life)  in  the  hope  that  all  our  difficulties 
would  be  amicably  adjusted  :  that  we  have  urged  Mr.  Joy  by 
every  motive  which  we  thought  could  influence  him  to  do  us  justice 
without  obliging  usbv  an  appeal  to  the  pubiick  opinion,  to  compel 
him  ;  that  we  have  not  attempted  to  wrest  from  him  a  property 
we  think  our  own,  but  which  he  claims  as  his  ;  that  we  have  riot 
required  the  surrender  of  any  part  of  that  property  in  his  posses- 
sion, which  was  once  our  father's:  —  but  THAT  WE  HAVE 
MERELY  INSISTED  THAT  MEN  OF  HONOUR,  INTEG- 
RITY AND  INTELLIGENCE,  AND  MEN  POO  PERFECT- 
LY INDIFFERENT  AND  DISINTERESTED  IN  THE  RE- 
SULT OF  OUR  CONTROVERSY  SHOULD  BE  AUTHOR- 
IZED TO  DECIDE  UPON  OUR  CLAIMS.  AND  THAT 
THEIR  DECISION  SHOULD  BE  CONCLUSIVE  AND  BIND- 
ING UPON  BOTH  PARTIES.  WE  HAVE  ASKED.  AND 
WE  DESIRE  NOTHING  MORE:  AND  WE  HAVE  IN  TUB 
MOST  SOLEMN  MANNER  PLEDGED  OURSELVES  TO 
MR.  JOY  TO  SUBMIT  TO  THEIR  DECISION. 
We  once  more  solicit  the  attention  of  our  friends  to  the  peculiar 
tircumstances  of  our  present  situation.  Our  father  but  a  few  years 
uefore  his  death,  was  possessed  of  a  property  which  he  thought, 


notwithstanding  the  embarrassment  of  his  affairs,  wuuld'  eventual 
ly  prove  a  large  fortune  to  his  children.     The  whole  of  this  prop- 
erty was  conveyed  absolutely  to  Mr.  Joy  prior  to  his  decease,  la- 
the belief  that  the  latter  would  manage  it  to  the  most  advantage^ 

*  We  have  no  written  vouchers  from  Mr.  Joy  in  support  of  these  lads.  The 
reason  why  we  do  not  possess  them  is  so  obvious,  ihi.1  it  is,  perhaps,  unnecessary 
to  aasigo  them.  Il  must  not  be  fnrgiiten,  that  the  sia'ement  delivered  to  Mr. 
Snow,  was  jfEVER  IN  OUR  POSSESSION,  and  has  s  nee  been  returned  to  Mr. 
Joy.  We  appexl  to  the  toimer  gentleman-  to  the  slateroent  i<  self,  (which  Mr. 
Joy  can  exhibit  if  he  thinks  proper)  in  support  of  the  correctness  oi  our  assertions. 
We  pledge  ourselves  to  our  fiiend«,  that  we  have  insetted  nothing  in 
,  whieh  is  not  known  l>r  Mr.  Joy  to  be  STRICTLY  TRUE. 


i 

and  if  at  a  future  period  he  should  realize  the  amount  due  hira» 
he  would  return  the  surplus  to  our  father  or  in  (he  event  of  his 
death,  divide  it  among  the  children  committed  to  his  care.  Let 
it  not  be  forgotten  that  Mr.  Joy  has  uniformly  admitted*  that  in 
the  event  of  a  compromise  between  the  United  States  and  the 
Georgia  Claimants,  the  value  of  the  estate  would  considerably  ex- 
ceed the  amount  of  his  claims  upon  it.  That  compromise  has*  been 
effected  and  we  are  now  told  that  his  demands  unon  the  estate 
exceed  its  value  by  many  thousands  !  Can  it  he  expected  that 
we  should  rest  satisfied  with  his  bare  assertion,  that  the  whole 
property  is  in  equity  his  own  ?  Is  it  unreasonable  that  under 
these  circumstances  we  should  insist  upon  his  proving:  his  title  to 
the  whole  ?  and,  \\hether  our  claims  upon  Mr.  Joy  are  or  are  not 
u- ell  founded,  is  not,  we  ask,  his  refusal  to  comply  with  a  propo- 
sition that  would  be  readily  acceded  to  by  any  honest  man  simi- 
larly circumstanced,  evincive  of  a  consciousness  of  his  want  of 
integrity  and  a  determination  to  defraud  us  ? 

Let  it  not  be  said  that  we  have  rashly  imposed  upon  the  puhlick 
a  Statement  of  our  grievances,  before  we  were  certain  that  Mr.  Joy 
would  not  eventually  accede  to  our  proposition.  Human  life  it 
ever  of  uncertain  duration.  The  possession  of  perfect  health  af- 
lords  no  assurance  against  sudden  dissolution.  But  when  to  the 
inevitable  ills  arid  accidents  of  life,  to  which  all  men  are  alike 
exposed,  are  added  the  uncertain  consequences  of  disease :  and 
when  as  in  the  present  instance,  the  decease  of  the  individual 
would  inevitably  prove  fatal  to  our  hopes,  as  no  human  power 
could  subsequently  render  us  justice,  we  do  believe  that  we  shall 
not  be  accused  of  having  been  too  precipitate  in  the  course  we 
have  pursued.  The  fact  too  that  the  accumulating  compound  inter- 
est is  rapidly  increasing  his  claims  upon  the  estate,  while  the  prop- 
erty in  his  possession  is  diminishing  in  value,  and  according  to  hit 
representation  is  totally  unproductive,  affords  another  serious  ob, 
jection  to  our  submitting  to  further  delay.  There  is  another  cir- 
cumstance which  \ve  conceive  would  alone  justify  us  in  our  de- 
termination, no  longer  to  procrastinate  the  publick  statement  of 
our  wrongs.  We  refer  to  the  disposition  which  has  uniformly 
been  evinced  by  Mr.  Joy  through  the  course  of  a  lojig  life  never  to 
adjust  an  account  with  any  one.  as  long  as  he  could  with  impuni- 
ty procrastinate  a  settlement.  In  support  of  this  assertion  we 
need  only  refer  to  a  recent  instance,  fresh  in  the  tnemoiy  of  big 
acquaintance,  in  which  he  refused  to  adjust  an  account  of  great 
magnitude,  and  of  long  standing,  during  the  life  of  an  individual, 
now  no  more,  whose  personal  attenoance  was  perhaps  essential 
to  a  correct  settlement.  But  we  confidently  appeal  indiscrimi 
nately,  to  all  those  who  have  ever  transacted  business  with  Mrj 
Joy,  to  support  us  in  our  assertion  of  his  procrastinating  di»po 
sition. 


We  have  now  completed  the  statement  we  proposed.  "We 
have  endeavoured  to  render  it  as  concise  as  its  nature  would  au- 
thorize. We  submit  it  to  the  candid  consideration  of  our  friends  ; 
in  the  belief  that  it  will  excite  the  sympathy  of  those  who  feel 
interested  in  the  future  welfare  of  a  family,  whose  prospects  in» 
life  were  once  unclouded,  and  in  the  hope  that  it  will  produce  such 
feelings  of  indignation  in  all,  as  may  yet  procure  us  the  act  of 
justice  which  we  have  so  long  and  so  fruitlessly  endeavoured  to 
obtain  by  measures  of  a  friendly  nature. 

CHARLES  BARRELL. 
HENRY  F.  BARRELL. 
GEORGE  BARRELL. 
8AMUEL  BROWN  BARREL^ 


APPENDIX. 

BOSTON,  December  1st,  1815. 
BENJAMIN  JOY,  Esq. 

DEAH  SIR — The  misunderstanding  which  exists  between  your- 
Self  and  the  members  of  our  family  is  a  source  of  much  regret  to 
me.  I  have  until  within  a  few  weeks,  uniformly  indulged  the  be- 
lief, that  you  wuuld  never  disappoint  our  hopes  of  eventually  re- 
alizing something  from  the  estate  of  our  late  father  ;  hopes  which 
were  originally  excited  and  have  since  been  encouraged  by  the  assur- 
ances we  have  at  different  times  received  from  you,  that  in  the  event 
of  the  settlement  of  the  Georgia  Claims,  and  on  the  terms  too  of  the 
late  compromise  with  the  United  States,  something  would  undoubt- 
edly be  left  for  us  arid  probably  something  considerable.  I  am 
aware  that  you  have  hitherto  realized  nothing  from  the  amount  of 
the  Treasury  Notes  which  you  have  received  on  account  of  the*- 
estate;  but  I  believe  your  opinion  fully  coincides  with  my  own, 
that  if  they  are  invested  in  the  way  you  propose,  your  estate 
will  eventually  realize  a  sum  from  them  which  will  exceed  the 
amount  of  your  demands  against  the  estate  of  our  tat-.-  father. 
"We  do  not  indulge  in  unreasonable  expectation*  :  af>d  if  you  feel 
disposed,  every  thing  may  yet  be  arranged  to  our  mutual  sati-  c- 
tion,  and  the  unpleasant  feelings  which  have  been  exciteii  i,  1:11 
remarks  recently  made  by  you,  may  he  entirely  removed.  I  have 
been  induced  to  write  you  this  evening,  in  consequence  of  your 
proposal  to  my  brother  Henry  to  assist  you  on  Sunday  ne.vt  in  com- 
pleting the  statement  of  your  claims  against  the  estate.  I  under- 
stood from  you  on  Wednesday,  that  you  had  determined  to  leave 
town  on  Tuesday  next  for  Washington,  and  if  so  it  will  be  im- 
possible for  us,  after  Sunday,  to  examine  that  statement  and  ex- 
press to  you  our  opinion  of  it  prior  to  your  departure.  Before 
your  return  I  shall  leave  Boston  for  the  Mississippi  Territory, 
wlrere  I  shall  certainly  reside  some  years  :  perhaps  I  may  remain 
there  during  life.  But  at  all  events  we,  shall  pr  bably  never  meet 
again.  I  am  very  desirous  that  all  our  difficulties  should  be  am- 
icably adjusted  before  1  leave  Boston,  and  this  I  think  may  be  as 
easily  effected  in  two  days,  as  in  as  many  years.  I  beg  therefore 
that  you  would  postpone  your  departure  until  we  have  had  time 
to  examine  your  statement  and  confer  with  you  on  the  subject  of 
it.  A  trifling  delay  may  prove  advantageous  both  to  yourself 
and  us,  it  will  certainly  shew  a  disposition  on  your  part  to  sep- 
arate on  friendly  terms.  Your  reply  in  the  course  of  tomorrow 
much  oblige  me. 

I  am,  Sir$  with  respect,  vour  friend  and  obedient  servant. 
SAMUEL  BROWN  iiAKRELL. 


11 

BOSTON,  December,  1815. 
BENJAMIN  JOY,  Esq. 
SIR, 

We  sincerely  regret  that  \ve  are  under  the  n-ecegsity  of  address- 
ing you  in  any  other  than  the  most  fiiendlv  terms.— We  formerly 
firmly  relied  upon  your  exertions  for  our  interest,  in  the  belief, 
that  the  man  who  possessed  tlie  Confidence  of  our  father,  and  up- 
on whom  the  management  of  his  large  property,  with  the  care  and 
Srotection  of  his  widow  and  orphan  children  devolved  at  his 
eath.  could  not  abuse  the  important  trust  with  which  he  was  in-? 
vested.  After  the  anxiety  and  suffering  of  eleven  years,  during 
the  whole  of  which  time,  you  have  uniformly  encouraged  the  be- 
lief that  you  were  making;  great  sacrifices  to  secure  to  us  and 
our  other  some  portion  of  an  immense  property,  which  had  be- 
come embarrassed  and  involved  by  the  Georgia  Speculation,  and 
•when  you  have  at  iast,  secured  to  yourself,  what  Congress  have 
considered  an  equivalent  for  the  surrender  of  our  father's  inter- 
est in  the  Georgia  claim,  and  which  with  the  property  you  before 
held  you  admit  nearly  repays  you  and  we  believe  much  more  than 
repays  you  for  all  that  you  have  ever  advanced  on  account  of  the 
estate,  with  compound  interest,  we  are  told,  that  we  have  nothing 
to  expect  either  from  your  generosity  or  justice  1 

W.c  are  aware  that  we  have  no  claim  upon  you  that  can  be  en- 
forced in  a  Court  of  Law,  and  from  your  late  conduct,  we  have 
every  icason  to  believe,  that  we  can  no  longer  rely  upon  your  dis- 
position to  submit  to  a  decision  of  our  claim,  at  the  tribunal  of 
conscience.  We  were  taught  to  believe  by  that  parent,  whose 
memory  we  venerate,  and  who  we  trust  is  now  in  Heaven,  that 
honesty  never  shrunk  from  examination !  We  hope,  Sir,  to  be 
hereafter  satisfied,  that  your  late  clandestine  departure  for  Wash- 
ington did  not  arise  from  a  fear  to  encounter  the  frowns  and  re- 
proaches  of  the  injured  orphan.  You  promised  one  of  our  num- 
ber that  you  would  not  leave  Boston,  until  you  had  delivered  to 
MS,  a  statement  of  your  claim  againstthe  estate  of  our  late  father. 
You  have  violated  this  promise,  and  have  deposited  this  statement 
in  the  hands  of  a  gentleman  for  our  inspection,  but  upon  the  ex- 
pi  ess  condition  that  neither  of  us  should  be  entrusted  with  the 
original,  or  suffered  to  take  a  copy.  This  circumstance  alone, 
would  excite  the  suspicion  of  any  disinterested  individual,  that', 
our  fears,  recently  expressed  to  you,  were  not  entirely  unfounded. 

We  learn  from  your  own  statement  that  in  January,  1806,  your 
claim  against  the  estate  at  simple  interest,  which  is  all  the  law  al- 
lows, and  is  more  than  you  once  said  you  would  charge  the  estate^ 
amounted  to  abou£  ninety  nine  thousand  dollars.  If  you  had  sold 
at  that  period  the  .Pleasant  Hill  Farm,  the  seventy  seven  Shares 
in  the  Middlesex  Canal,  the  Eastern  Lands  and  the  Ohio  Shares,, 


48 

j'tu  would  hate  realized  from  the  proceeds,  the  principal  part»  if 
not  the  full  amount  of  jour  demand  against  the  estate.  You  have 
since  been  obliged  to  pay.  as  appears  from  your  statement,  at 
sundry  times,  the  further  sum  of  eleven  thousand  two  hundred  and 
forty  one  dollars.  But  your  statement  also  shews,  that  you  have 
received  on  account  of  the  estate,  since  the  year  1806,  twenty 
seven  thousand  live  hundred  and  sixty  seven  dollars.  The  conclu- 
sion then  we  draw  from  that  statement,  a  conclusion  which  we 
think  liberal,  as  well  as  fair  is,  that  had  you  disposed  of  the  prop- 
erty before  specified  in  January,  1806,  we  should  now  be  entitled, 
upon  every  principal  of  equity  to  the  avails  of  the  Georgia  iMnds, 
ami  of  any  thing  which  may  be  hereafter  realized  from  the  claim 
against  John  Hoskins,  William  P.  White,  the  Virginia  purchase, 
the  North  and  South  Carolina  State  Notes,  and  in  fine  to  the 
avails  of  all  the  remaining  property  of  our  late  father  in  your  pos- 
session. 

We  have  been  informed  that  the  amount  due  from  William  P. 
"White  might  have  been  secured  to  the  estate,  had  you  pursued 
those  measures  which  were  recommended  by  a  gentleman  friend- 
ly to  our  interest.  We  do  not  know  that  there  is  any  foundation 
for  this  charge,  but  the  negligence  and  inattention  which  has 
marked  your  conduct  in  the  management  of  the  estate  generally, 
certainly  justifies  our  suspicions  that  it  may  prove  correct. 

We  solemnly  protest  against  your  charge  of  COMPOUND  INTER- 
EST ! — Were  we  at  the  mercy  of  a  hard  hearted  money  broker, 
who  »\  as  from  existing  circumstances  placed  beyond  the  reach  of 
law,  and  whose  conscience  formed  no  barrier  between  the  orphan 
ami  oppression,  we  should  submit  to  the  loss  of  our  property, 
and  look  to  Hirti  who  is  the  avenger  of  the  orphans'  wrongs,  hi 
the  iiumble  hope  of  obtaining  redress  hereafter. — But  from  the 
husband  of  her.  whose  father  was  our  father,  from  the  man  who 
has  uniformly  professed  himself  our  friend,  from  one  who  has 
heretofore  repeatedly  expressed  a  determination  to  make  large 
sacrifices  for  the  benefit  of  our  family,  and  who  has  from  time  to 
time  encouraged  the  belief,  that  upon  the  liberal  terms  on  which 
his  claim  upon  the  estate  should  be  adjusted,  a  considerable  prop- 
erty would  eventually  be  divided  between  the  widow  and  or- 
phan children  <>f  our  father,  we  expected  a  degree  of  liberality 
in  the  settlement  of  our  concerns,  which  would  have  received,  as 
it  would  have  merited,  our  gratitude  and  esteem. 

We  think  proper  in  this  place  to  express  our  displeasure  on 
another  item  in  your  statement — We  refer  to  the  amount  allowed 
the  estate  for  the  wine  you  received  from  Pleasant  Hill.— You 
expressed  at  the  time  of  our  father's  decease,  from  regard  to  our 
feelings,  as  well  as  from  your  own  pretended  sense  of  delicacy  on 
the  subject —your  determination  not  to  expose  this  article  at  pub- 


lick  auction,  but  retain  it  for  your  own  use.  observing,  that  yon 
would  allow  for  it  a  liberal  sum.  —For  upwards  of  twelve  hundred 
bottles  of  wirie.  a  considerable  portion  of  which  you  know  was 
superior  in  quality  to  any  in  the  country  on  account  of  its  great 
age — besides  a  quantity  contained  in  demijohns,  and  some  old 
spirit — it  appears  from  your  statement,  that  you  have  credited 
the  estate  with  the  sum  of  eleven  hundred  dollars*  probably  about 
one  third  of  the  amount  it  would  have  produced  at  publick  sale  I 
Do  you  believe,  any  other  than  yourself  would  consider  this  a 
liberal  allowance  ? — We  would  here  remind  you  that  our  aged 
mother,  whose  infirmities  have  required,  and  whose  health  would 
have  been  benefitted  from  the  use  of  old  wine,  has  never  received 
from  the  vast  quantity  our  father  left,  (the  whole  of  which  you 
appropriated  to  your  own  use,)  a  single  bottle  ! 

We  complain  of  the  manner  in  which  you  have  managed  the 
Pleasant  Hill  estate — Had  you  disposed  of  it  at  the  time  of  our 
father's  decease,  we  believe  it  would  have  produced  a  sum  which, 
at  COM  POUND  INTKREST,  would  have  nearly  equalled  one 
half  the  amount  of  your  whole  claim  against  the  estate  ;  or  had, 
it  been  since  that  period,  improved  to  the  most  advantage,  you 
would  have  realized  from  it,  what  would  now  form  a  consider- 
able item  on  the  credit  side  of  your  account.  We  believe  too, 
that  had  you  not  been  obstinately  bent  upon  pursuing  your  own 
course,  a  course  directly  opposite  to  that  which  our  interest  re- 
quired, the  value  of  the  estate  might  have  been  greatly  enhanced, 
by  being  connected  with  Boston  by  the  bridge  which  now  termi- 
nates upon  Lechmere's  point.— While  we  are  on  this  subject,  \ve 
would  express  our  surprise  that  you  should  have  charged  the  es- 
tate with  the  sum  of  four  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  paid  to  pro- 
fessional  gentlemen  for  their  services  in  opposing  the  plans  of  Mr. 
Cragie  and  hi*  associates,  which  (if  we  have  not  been  misinformed) 
had  they  been  effected  agreeable  to  propositions  made  to  you, 
would  have  proved  of  incalculable  benefit  to  the  estate. — We  no- 
tice this  charge,  not  with  a  view  of  quarrelling  about  trifles,  but 
because  we  consider  it  indicative  of  a  disposition  on  your  part,  to 
crowd  into  your  statement  any  charge,  wliether  founded  injustice 
or  not,  for  the  purpose  of  swelling  the  amount  of  your  demand,  to 
a  sum  that  shall  completely  absorb  the  whole  of  the  property  left 
by  our  father,  and  enable  you  with  at  least  some  shew  of  justice, 
to  appropriate  the  whole  to  your  own  use,  and  that  cf  your  chil- 
dren. 

We  are  not  satisfied  with  the  terms  on  which  you  propose  ad- 
justing the  claim  of  Jones,  Jeffrey  and  Russell.  We  do  not  see 
how  your  honour,  or  credit  is  involved  in  that  settlement,  and 
we  now  express  to  you  our  opinion  that  you  ought  to  pay  those 
gentlemen  or  their  representatives,  what  you  may  by  an  action 
at  law  be  compelled  to  pay,  and  no  more. 


We  complain  of  your  unfeeling  conduct,  since  the  death  of  om 
lather,  toua  ds  our  surviving  parent.  You  know,  perhaps,  (we 
fid"?  never  known,  nor  has  our  mother)  hv  what  means  she  became 
divested  of  the  property  to  which  hy  taw,  she  would  have  been 
entitled.  a>  the  widow  of  oar  father  ! — We  know  however  that  her 
right  of  dower  has  been  formally  relinquished,  but  until  after  our 
rs  decease,  she  wa«  not  aware  of  the  sacrifice  she  had  made  ! 
She  did  however  fofmttfty  relinquish  all  her  right  in  your  favour, 
and  what,  has  bee.n  the  consequence  ?  Did  she  after  our  father's 
.death,  receive  that  delicate  and  respectful  attention  which  was 
due  to  the  widow  of  your  wife's  fattier  ?  We  ask  not,  if  she 
was  supported  by  you  in  that  style  of  life,  to  which  s:»e  had  been 
accustomed  from  her  infancy  !  We  ask  not  if  she  has  been  indulg- 
ed in  all  those  comforts  which  her  advanced  age  required  !  But 
we  ask.  if  she  has  been  supplied  by  you.  with  more  than  the  ne- 
cessnries  of  lift,  and  at  nil  times 'mm  these  ?  Driven  sooner  than 
a  due  regard  to  decency  would  authorize,  after  our  father's  de- 
cease, from  the  family  mansion,  she  was  refused  admittance  into 
your  family,  and  compelled  to  reside  in  a  hoarding  house  !  In  this 
nimble  situation  however,  surrounded  by  her  children,  she  would 
have  hoeu  happy  !  but  on  the  paltry  plea,  that  you  could  not  af- 
ford to  support  her  in  this  humble  establishment,  you  hurried  her 
to  an  obscure  residence  at  a  distance  from  Boston,  where  you 
knew  her  sorrows  and  her  suffering?*  would  be  unnoticed  by  the 
world — And  there  she  has  si;ice  been  obliged  to  remain,  depriv- 
ed of  the  society  of  her  children,  and  of  the  few  friends  she  left 
behind  her.  You  know  that  she  has  o/fewand  anxiously  express- 
ed a  wish  to  return  to  a  place  which  contains  ell  that  is  most 
dear  to  her  in  life;  arid  you  know  likewise,  that  her  feelings  have 
tieen  wounded,  by  repeated  and  pressing  invitations  to  other  mem- 
bers of  the  family  where  she  resides,'  to  visit  you,  while  her  so- 
licitaiions  have  passed  unnoticed!  If  you  can  reconcile  to  your- 
self such  conduct,  we  know  not  why  we  should  rely  upon  your 
feelings  of  generosity  or  justice. 

We  have  other  causes  of  complaint  of  a  minor  nature,  which 
cannot  be  comprised  in  the  compass  of  a  letter,  but  which  we 
may  be  compelled  hereafter  to  submit  to  the  consideration  of 
yourself  and  others  in  another  form. 

\\  e  have  not  forgotten  the  intimations  we  have  from  time  to 
time  received  from  you.  that  in  order  to  secure  a  fortune  to  our 
family^yuu  had  made  such  sacrifircs  of  your  property,  as  had  in- 
volved vou  in  much  difficulty,  and  so  far  reduced  your  income, 
as  to  deprive  your  family  of  the  comforts  of  life,  and  sometimes 
distressed  you  to  supply  th<?m  with  its  necessaries!  To  these  in- 
timations we  reply  that  if  the  sacrifices  you  have  made  for  us, 
have  indeed  been'  followed  by  such  painful  consequences — yet  if 


10 

*i  the  moment  when  your  benevolent  exertions  for  our  interest, 
have  been  crowned  with  success,  you  choose  to  abandon  us.  and 
appropriate  the  whole  property  to  your  own  use  and  that  of  your 
children,  all  obligation  on  our  part,  with  all  claims  on  our  grati- 
tude are  removed  ! — But  the  fact  we  k»ow  to  be  otherwise,  and 
although  you  have  made  large  ad-ances  on  account  of  the  estate, 
we  are  not  ignorant  that  if  the  residue  of  your  immense  fortune, 
had  not  been  invested  in  property  which  lias  proved  unproduc- 
tive (and for  which  tve  are  by  no  means  accountable, )  you  would 
have  realized  to  the  preseut  day  an  income,  that  would  have  af- 
forded you  and  your  family,  all  the  comforts,  conveniences,  and 
even  luxuries  of  life — we  ascribe,  Sir,  to  your  mismanagement  the 
present  deplorable  situation  of  our  atVairs,  and  we  ask,  if,  upon 
principles  of  equity  and  justice  we  ought  to  be  the  sufferers  ? 

Notwithstanding  all  that  has  passed,  we  beg  you  to  believe  our 
assurances,  that  we  are  still  sincerely  desirous  of  closing  here, 
a  contest,  which  in  its  consequences,  cannot  be  productive  of  good, 
either  to  you  or  ourselves,  and  which  we  think  if  continued,  will  at 
a  future  period,  be  deeply  regretted  by  you  !  That  Being  who 
will  one  day  be  the  Judge,  as  he  is  now  the  protector  of  the  or- 
phan, knows  the  motives  which  influence  us  ii»  the  course  we  are 
pursuing! — You  will  one  day  know,  and  approve  them  ! 

We  propose  then  as  the  most  effectual,  as  well  as  the  most 
proper  mode  of  reconciling  all  our  difficulties,  that  it  be  submit- 
ted to  the  decision  of  three  impartial,  indepentlent,  honest  men.  to 
decide  finally  on  the  subject  in  controversy,  and  ^determine  vliat 
proportion,  if  any.  of  our  lute  father's  property  in  your  possession, 
should  be  surrendered  to  MS,  and  we  shall  readily  agree  to  the  ap- 
pointment of  any  gentlemen  of  integrity  and  honour,  whom  you 
may  think  proper  to  name.  If  their  opinion  of  yyur  proceedings 
coincides  with  yours,  we  solemnly  pledge  ourselves  to  remain  si- 
lent on  the  suhject/oreyer ! — \Ve  shall  delay  farther  proceedings 
for  the  period  of  twenty  one  days,  from  the  date  of  this  letter.  At 
the  expiration  of  that  time,  if  we  do  not  receive  a  decided  and  sat- 
isfactory reply,  we  are  determined  to  submit  a  statement  of  oui- 
grievances  to  the  consideration  of  our  friends,  and  recollect.  Sir, 
that  you  and  you  only  must  be  accountable  for  the  consequences. 

\Ve  beg  you  to  reflect  seriously  upon  the  subject  of  this  letter 
before  you  finally  determine  upon  the  course  you  will  pursue  I— 
The  consequences  of  a  refusal  to  accede  to  the  proposition  we 
have  made  to  you,  without  proposing  some  other  mode  of%ijust- 
uieut  equally  satisfactory,  may  be  serious  both  to  yourself  and  to 
as.  \Ve  are  determined  rigidly  to  adhere  to  the  resolution  we 
have  formed,  if  you  any  longer  defer  a  settlement,  which  ought  to 
have  been  concluded  many  years  ago.  but  we  assure  you,  that  we 
•hall  with  reluctance  pursue  a  course  which  must  necessarily  pro- 


1C 

duce  a  final  separation  between  ourselves  and  the  members  of 
your  family.  We  have  written  you  freely  on  the  subject  of  our 
grievances  ;  but  recollect.  Sir,  that  our  letter  has  been  submitted 
to  the  perusal  of  no  one  but  our  sister.  It  is  not  yet  known  abroad 
that  we  are  on  anv  other  terms  than  those  of  friendship,  with, 
yourself  and  your  family.  It  is  for  you  to  determine  if  it  shall 
ever  be  known,  that  the  harmony,  which  formerly  existed  between 
us,  has  been  interrupted. 

P.  S.  January  9,  1816. — At  the  earnest  solicitation  of  our 
sister  and  Mr.  Snow,  we  have  been  prevailed  upon  to  defer  for- 
warding our  letter  until  the  present  time.  It  was  the  opinion  of 
both,  that  our  request  was  of  so  reasonable  a  nature,  that  you 
could  not  refuse  your  compliance,  ll'e  are  not  disappointed  at 
the  determination  you  have  formed,  and  expressed  in  your  several 
replies  to  their  letters,  for  we  were  before  fully  impressed  with 
the  opinion  that  we  had  nothing  to  expect  either  from  your  gen- 
erosity or  justice.  We  shall  now  pursue  the  course  which  our 
judgment  dictates,  and  we  beg  you  not  to  deceive  yourself  with 
the  belief  that  we  shall  vary  from  the  determination  we  originally 
formed,  and  whicff  we  have  explicitly  stated  in  our  letter.  Since 
that  letter  was  written,  we  have  examined  more  particularly  tlie 
statement  you  left  with  Mr.  Snow.  We  notice  with  feelings 
which  it  would  be  in  vain  to  express,  a  charge  of  more  than  Thir- 
ty Thousand  Dollars  paid  on  account  of  the  Middlesex  Canal. 
You  cannot  bejgnorant  that  if  that  property  had  been  sold  soon 
after  our  father's  death,  it  would  have  made  a  difference  in  your 
claims  against  the  estate  at  the  present  time  of  more  than  forty 
thousand  dollars.  Your  claim  would  have  been  diminished  many 
thousands,  if  you  had  given  it  away  !*  Recollect.  Sir,  that  all  we 
ask  of  you  is  an  unequivocal  promise  that  you  will,  on  your  retit  n 
to  Boston,  submit  your  statement,  with  its  vouchers,  to  the  inspec- 
tion of  disinterested  men,  whom  you  shall  appoin  ,  and  of  whom 
we  shall  approve,  and  abide  their  decision  on  the  subject. 

We  would  remind  you  that  we  are  no  longer  mere  children, 
such  as  we  unfortunately  were  at  the  time  of  our  father's  decease, 
but  men,  fully  sensible  of  our  rights,  and  resolutely  det<  rmined  to 
maintain  them.  We  beg  you  to  reflect,  that  by  complying  with 
our  reasonable  request,  you  will  relieve  the  wounded  feelings  of 

'  We  are  lajipy  to  find  ourselves  incorrect  IN  OWE  INSTANCE  in  our  ch«ge« 
agiinst  Mr.  Joy  At  the  time  our  led'  r  was  transmitted  t<>  Washington  we  had 
lieeu  abie  to  examine  the  Suit-merit  only  in  »  very  partial  and  mi|>erleci  m  n  er. 
On  fuilher  examination  afterward,  we  (band  that  ACCORDING  TO  IHE  STATB- 
.-•LVT,  the  |  rut  ip;il  part  of  the  money  advanced  l>>  Mr.  Joy  on  nccoun:  •  t  'he 
\lidiliesex  Cai.al,  wn»s  paid  prior  to  the  dt-ceHSe  of  our  father.  This  en  or,  we 
tt.i-ik,  under  the  ncsTRt CTIOXS  with  wnich  we  were  pernwted  to  examine  the 
l,  requires  no  apology; 


17 

jour  afflicted  wife,  and  whatever  may  be  the  determination  of 
those  to  whose  decision  tiie  subject  of  our  differences  shall  be 
submitted,  secure  to  yourself  the  respect  and  esteem  of  those  who 
now  address  you. 

We  shall  await  your  reply  to  our  letter  until  the  fifteenth  day 
of  February  next,  and  NO  LONGER.  If  it  should  prove  satisfac- 
tory, we  shall  cheerfully  await  your  return  fos  a  final  settlement; 
but  if  your  answer  does  not  accord  with  our  wishes,  or  if  we  should 
not  receive  your  reply  prior  to  that  period,  we  solemnly  assure  yoir, 
that  we  willimmediately  submit  to  the  inspection  of  onr  friends  a 
full  and  explicit  statement  of  the  injuries  we  have  sustained. 

CHARLES  BARRELL, 
HENRY  F.  BARRELL, 
GKORGE  BARRELL, 
SAMUEL  BROWN  BARRELL. 


WASHINGTON,  7th  February,  1816. 
Messrs.  Charles,  Henry  F.  George  and  Samuel  B.  Barrel!, 

SIRS — Some  days  since  I  received  your  letter  of  December^ 
with  Postscript  of  9th  January.  In  reply  I  shall  repress  the  feel- 
ings of  indignation  which  its  language  seems  intended  and  is  cal- 
culated to  excite,  nor  shall  I  stoop  to  answer  the  charges  therein. 

made  against  me,  or 

I  would  merely  state,  that  my  conduct  in  regard  to  any  thing 
which  relates  to  your  father  or  his  affairs,  and  even  to  any  branch 
of  his  family,  has  been  such  that  so  far  from  shrinking  from  an  in- 
vestigation, it  is  my  determined  purpose  to  have  one  made  so 
soon  as  I  return  to  Boston,  and  am  able  to  prepare  the  Statements 
with  attendant  documents  for  the  inspection  of  some  friends  of 
the  family.  This,  my  determination,  was  made  known  to  you. 
before  I  left  Boston,  and  I  think  is  stated  in  a  letter  to  Henry  F. 
Barrel),  when  I  was  leaving  town,  and  my  letters  since,  which  I 
understand  from  you,  you  have  seen,  to  Mrs.  Joy,  and  Mr.  Snow, 
have  evinced  it  as  strongly  as  words  can.  If  those  declarations 
are  not  sufficient  to  satisfy  you  on  that  subject,  nothing  I  can  say 
or  write,  will.  Had  I  not  have  informed  your  sister  that  I  should 
answer  any  letter  you  might  write  me,  you  probably  would  not 
receive  this  reply,  as  I  cannot  conceive  myself  called  upon,  to 
answer  such  an  one  as  that  above  mentioned. 

B.  JOY. 


BOSTON,  8th  June,  1816. 
BENJAMIN  JOY,  Esq. 

SIR — We  delayed  addressing;  you  on  the  subject  of  *our  af- 
fairs immediately  after  your  return  from  Washington,  in  the 
hope  that  we  should  receive  from  you  some  information  respect- 
ing the  course  you  intended  to  pursue,  and  satisfactory  assurances 
that  a  settlement  would  be  effected  with  us  at  an  early  period, 
either  by  direct  personal  communication,  or  through  the  medium 
tof  intelligent  and  upright  i*en. 

We  renewedly  assure  you  of  our  sincere  desire  that  all  exist- 
ing differences  may  he  amicably  adjusted.  We  require  of  you 
no  sacrifices  ;  we  ask  for  nothing  more  than  we  are  entitled  to 
upon  principles  of  equity  and  justice  }  and  we  cannot  believe  you 
averse  to  a  settlement  with  us  upon  terms  which  every  honest 
*tan  will  pronounce  just  and  reasonable.  We  beg  your  early 
written  reply  to  this  letter,  and  are,  Sir, 

Your  obedient  servants. 

BOSTON,  10th  June,  1816. 

SIRS — In  reply  to  yours  of  the  8th  inst.  I  would  inform  you, 
that  as  soon  as  I  shall  have  settled  my  business  with  the  New 
England  Missisippi  Land  Company,  (which  I  trust  will  be  soon) 
I  shall  immediately  apply  myself  to  the  settlement  of  every  thing 
relative  to  your  late  father's  affairs. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

B.  JOY. 
Messrs.  Charles,  Henry  F.  George  &  Samuel  B.  Barrell. 

BOSTON,  81st  July,  1816.— Tuesday  evening,  7  o'clock. 
BENJAMIN  JOY,  Esq. 

SIR — We  feel  both  disappointed  and  mortified,  that  our  ex- 
ertions to  adjust  amicably  the  difficulties  which  have  so  long  ex- 
isted between  you  and  us,  have  proved  unavailing.  You  solemn* 
ly  promised  us  six  weeks  since,  that  you  would  as  soon  as  prac- 
ticable, prepare  and  deliver  to  us  a  statement  of  our  family  con- 
cerns ;  and  encouraged  a  belief,  that  it  would  be  completed 
\vithin  ten  days.  We  now  learn  with  feelings  of  indignation, 
that  you  have  not  yet  commenced  that  statement,  and  we  are  firm- 
ly  resolved  that  the  settlement  of  our  late  father's  estate  shall  be 
no  longer  procrastinated.  We  now  require  from  you  an  unequiv- 
ocal engagement  in  writing,  that  your  statement  sliall  be  complet- 
ed and  presented  to  us  within  a  reasonable  limited  period  ;  and 
%ve  require  that  you  give  us  such  engagement  in  the  course  of  to- 
morrow, 

We  arc,  Sir,  your  much  injured  reJativeSr 


19 

BOSTON,  1st  A^JBst,  181G. 
SIRS — I  have  received  your  letter  of  yesterday  evening,  and 
in  reply  would  observe,  that  whoever  informed  you  that  I  had 
not  commenced  the  statement  you  therein  mention,  has  stated  a 
falsehood  :  on  the  contrary,  with  as  great  a  desire  to  accomplish 
it  as  any  one  can  have,  1  have  expended  as  much  time  on  the 
business,  as  my  pressing  and  very  necessary  applications  to  some 
of  my  concerns,  and  the  state  of  my  health  would  allow;  and 
have  gotten  many  of  the  materials  ready  for  the  finishing  it. 
What  time  it  may  further  require  for  me  to  bring  it  to  a  close,  it 
is  out  of  my  power  precisely  to  determine.  I  can  only  say,  that 
I  am  as  desirous  of  having  a  complete  statement  of  my  concerns 
with  your  father  and  his  family  ready  for  to  be  exhibited  to  all 
persons  interested  therein,  as  you,  or  any  others  interested  there- 
in, can  be,  and  I  shall  lose  no  time,  consistent  with  a  proper  at- 
tention to  my  health,  to  effect  it.  If  this  will  not  satisfy  you,  I 
shall  despair  of  ever  doing  it. 

B.  JOY. 
Messrs.  Charles,  Henry  F.  George  and  Samuel  B.  Barrcll. 

BOSTON,  August  12,  1816. 
BENJAMIN  JOY,  Esq. 

SIR — More  than  ten  days  have  elapsed  since  the  receipt  of 
your  last  letter  in  reply  to  ours  of  the  31st.  ultimo.  You  de- 
ceive yourself  if  you  imagine  we  are  longer  to  be  delayed  by 
promises  which  you  have  repeatedly  made  to  us,  aud  invariably 
violated. — We  now  give  y»u  until  Monday  next  to  complete  and 
deliver  to  us,  the  statement  to  which  we  are  entitled,  and  we 
solemnly  pledge  ourselves  to  you  that  we  will  submit  to  no  farther 
delay,  nor  will  we  be  longer  influenced  by  any  excuses  you  may 
make  for  not  having  completed  it. 

We  have  no  longer  any  confidence  in  your  professions  of  being 
disposed  to  settle  with  us  upon  amicable  and  honourable  terms — 
This  is  the  last  time  we  shall  address  you  upon  the  subject  of  our 
family  concerns — our  next  step  will  be  to  submit  a  statement  of 
•ur  injuries  to  the  consideration  of  the  publick. 

We  are,  Sir,  your  obedient  servants. 

BOSTON,  19th  August,  1816. 
BENJAMIN  JOY,  Esq. 

SIR — The  enclosed  documents  we  now  send  you  for  your 
perusal.  Unless  we  previously  receive  from  you  a  satisfactory 
communication  on  the  subject,  they  will  be  placed  in  the  hands 
of  the  printer  on  Wednesday  morning. 

We  are,  Sir,  your  obedient  servants, 


4035O4 


so 

[Early  o^PPednesday  morning,  the  21st  August,  Mr.  Snow 
called  upon  one  of  our  number,  and  enquired  if  nothing  could  pre- 
vail upon  us  to  abandon  our  resolution  of  making  our  difficulties 
publick  He  was  informed,  that  an  obligation  from  Mr.  Joy  in 
writing,  to  submit  all  matters  in  dispute  between  him  and  ?fs.  to 
l/ie  ultimate  decision  of  honest  and  impartial  men,  AT  AN\ 
TIMK  MOST  CONVENIENT  IO  HIM  WITHIN  THE  PE- 
RIOD OF  A  TWELVE  MONTH,  would  prove  satisfactory, 
and  prevent  us  from  proceeding  further  in  the  course  we  had  com- 
menced. He  exacted  a  promise,  that  our  papers  should  not  be 
left  with  the  Printer  until  after  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  ;  be- 
fore which  period  he  engaged  to  inform  us  if  he  hail  succeeded  in 
prevailing  upon  Mr.  Joy  to  accede  to  our  terms.  Within  the 
time  limited,  we  heard  nothing  more  from  him  upon  the  sub- 
ject.] 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last 
date  stamped  below 


5m-6,'41(8644) 


UNIVERSITY  OP  CALIFORNIA; 


A    001435179    5 


